Worthing FC

The Sussex Transport Community Stadium
Woodside Road
Worthing
West Sussex
BN14 7HQ

Founded in 1886, Worthing  – according to popular lore (this claim is disputed and seemingly undocumented) – became known as the Rebels after resigning from the West Sussex League in 1920 in protest at a rule change. The team, as their badge indicates, are also known as the Mackerelmen, leaving little doubt about which species of fish are or were caught off this section of the West Sussex coast. They immediately became founder members of the Sussex County League, where they remained until after the Second World War before stepping up first to the Corinthian League and, following its disbandment, the Athenian League.

A move to the Isthmian League followed in 1977/78. The club enjoyed a single season in its Premier Division in 1995/96 before returning for a further three campaigns from 2004/05, by which time it formed part of the seventh tier. After regaining their place in the Isthmian Premier in 2016/17, the Rebels finally hit top gear in 2021/22, winning the title and promotion to the National League South.

Worthing wasted little time establishing themselves at this level. In each of their first three National League South campaigns they reached the play-offs, only to fall at the final hurdle: losing to Oxford City in the semi-finals, then to Braintree Town in the final, before Maidstone United ended their hopes in the quarter-finals. But there would be no play-off heartbreak in 2025/26. By finishing top of the table, Worthing sealed automatic promotion and, in doing so, reached the National League for the first time in the club’s history.

The Rebels have also enjoyed their share of cup adventures. They reached the second round of the FA Cup in 1982/83 before bowing out to Oxford Utd, while first-round exits followed against AFC Bournemouth in 1994/95, Rotherham Utd in 1999/2000, Alfreton Town in 2023/24 and Morecambe in 2024/25. Rovers of course defeated them in a televised Monday night match in the fourth qualifying round last season.  Worthing’s best recent FA Trophy run came in 2024/25, when they reached the fifth round before being eliminated by Rochdale. Earlier still, in 1978/79, they reached the fifth round of the FA Vase, where Billericay Town brought their campaign to an end.

Worthing is on the South Coast, in West Sussex, about 14 miles but an entire world away from the centre of the rather larger Brighton & Hove conurbation over the border in East Sussex. It's a road journey of about 140 miles from Nailsworth, with a journey time of just under three hours.

By Supporters Club Coach.  For information about Away Travel, including precise details of pick-up locations – look here. For this match, the departure times are Stonehouse Brunel Way – 9am, Sainsbury's Dudbridge – 9.15am, The New Lawn – 9.30am and CIRENCESTER (outside Waitrose)- 10am.  

The prices for coach tickets to this match are as follows (Supporters' Club members get a £3 discount): Adults £35, U-16 £20, U-11 £10

Visit this link to purchase your travel.

To book a seat with the supporter's club discount, please call 0333 123 1889  on Monday, Thursday, or Friday at 11am to 2pm.  Please try to book early.

By Train – Worthing has several railway stations, and the football club is approximately equidistant from those at Worthing and West Worthing– about a ten minute walk in either case.

Adult return fares from Stroud to Worthing are in the region of £90 and the journey will take around 4 hours, with numerous routes available, typically crossing London. Use of split ticketing and/or advance purchase tickets can only save a small amount on this journey. The last train that will get you back to Stroud leaves Worthing at 7.03pm, with changes at London Victoria, London Paddington and Swindon, arriving in Stroud at 11.06pm.

By Car – The address for car travellers is Woodside Road, Worthing BN14 7HQ.  Car parking is available on local streets but checking parking restrictions is advised.  For accessible parking, book in advance at info@worthingfc.com or 01903 233444.

Woodside Road has a capacity of just over 4,000. Worthing have played at the ground since 1901, although it has been extensively modernised on numerous occasions since then. Most recently, a 750-capacity West Stand opened in 2023/24,  followed by a 1,800-capacity North Stand in 2024/25.

Ticket prices for 2026/27 are as follows:

Adam Hinshelwood is currently in his third spell in charge of the Rebels. He first managed Worthing between 2013 and 2015, when the club were competing in Division One South of the Isthmian League. After a spell as a full-time coach at Brighton & Hove Albion—where he had made more than 100 appearances on the pitch as a centre-back—he returned to Worthing in 2017, by which time the club had won promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Success soon followed. In 2021/22 Hinshelwood guided the Rebels to the league title and promotion to the National League South at the first attempt. Worthing adapted quickly to life at the higher level, finishing fourth in their debut season to reach the play-offs. They followed that by finishing third the next year, only for Hinshelwood to depart in February 2024 to take over at York City.

His time in North Yorkshire proved successful, even if it ultimately ended in a “close, but no cigar” end. York finished runners-up in the National League in 2024/25, but Hinshelwood left before the start of the following season to return to Worthing for a third time. The reunion proved an inspired one. After three successive campaigns ending in play-off disappointment, he steered the Rebels to the National League South title in 2025/26, securing automatic promotion and taking the club into the fifth tier for the first time in its history.

Optimistic and ready to go – having finally cracked the nut of gaining promotion to the National League, and optimistic about their chances. There have been, so far, a handful of signings made over the summer, notably left-wingers Ashley Nathaniel-George from York City and Dom Hutchinson from Wealdstone, and central midfielders Noor Husin from Southend Utd and Tyrique Clarke from Slough.

That optimism can only have grown after the first match of the season; the long trip to Cumbria, to meet many’s observers’ top tip for promotion, Carlisle Utd, went stunningly, with a 3-2 victory (Worthing having been 1-0 down at half-time). Now, their second match of the season, against another much-fancied team….how will that go?

Just the one – although its shift to a Monday evening for TV purposes meant that very few Rovers’ fans made the trip to the South Coast. This was the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round match played in October 2025, where Rovers romped to a 4-1 victory, setting them up to play Luton Town in the first round proper. Worthing’s one goal came from former Rover Teddy Jenks, who is still with the Rebels today.

Teddy Jenks on Signing for FGR

Like many Sussex coastal towns, Worthing grew rapidly during the nineteenth century as a fashionable seaside resort. Although overshadowed by Brighton, it retains much of its Victorian and Edwardian character and makes an attractive place for a stroll before or after the match.

The town’s best-known landmark is Worthing Pier, opened in 1862 and one of the finest surviving Victorian piers on the south coast. Nearby, the Art Deco Pavilion Theatre has been entertaining audiences since 1926, while the wide promenade and pebble beach offer uninterrupted views along the English Channel.

Those with more time to spare may wish to head for Cissbury Ring, just north of the town, one of Britain’s largest Iron Age hill forts, which commands spectacular views across the South Downs and the Sussex coast. Alternatively, Highdown Gardens, created in a former chalk quarry on the western edge of the town, are renowned for their collection of rare plants.

Worthing has also produced more than its fair share of notable figures. Among them are playwright Harold Pinter, broadcasters David Jacobs and Simon Mayo, singer Billy Idol, pioneering aviator Cecil Pashley and screenwriter Talbot Rothwell, best remembered for his work on the Carry On films.

Although today Worthing is generally regarded as a genteel and sedate seaside resort, the town also has a darker chapter in its history. During the 1930s it became one of the principal centres of support for Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, earning the unhappy nickname “the Munich of the South”.

In 1934 Charles Bentinck Budd became Britain’s first self-declared fascist councillor, attending council meetings in his Blackshirt uniform, while the town’s Conservative Mayor publicly praised the movement. A visit by Mosley and William Joyce—later notorious as the wartime broadcaster “Lord Haw-Haw”—to address a meeting at the Pavilion Theatre in October 1934 sparked violent clashes in the streets that became known as the “Battle of South Street”. Local opponents also ensured that posters proclaiming “Mosley Speaks” were swiftly altered to read “Gasbag Mosley Speaks Tripe”. Later in the decade school exchanges were organised with members of the Hitler Youth organisation.

The town’s association with fascism lingered beyond the decade: after the Second World War a number of former British Union of Fascists members in Worthing helped establish the Soil Association, an organisation whose early years included a significant far-right and, in some cases, openly antisemitic element.